Philippians 1:3-5

"I thank my God...because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now."

It is always exciting to get a personal letter from a missionary friend, especially if you have had an important part in his or her ministry. Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi was just such a letter. In it he recognizes their essential contribution to his ministry. The job of world evangelization requires total mobilization of the resources of the Body of Christ-with significant partnership between missionaries and sending churches.

Dear Lord, help us to see clearly those near us and those far away who have yet to know You. Teach us to be faithful partners in prayer with those workers we have sent.

Mpi People of Thailand

The old woman from the Mpi people group sat at the entrance to Thailand’s Tham Sakoen National Park and told a few curious visitors her story. Her ancestors fled China’s Yunnan Province 250-300 years ago and went to Laos. There they were captured and brought to this very place. She pointed to a cave’s entrance and told them that it was the location of a mine where they were forced to work. The other captives were taken to Ban Dong to take care of the king’s animals. Her people still live in a village called Ban Koen to this day. Her people group, the Mpi, number only 1500, and they still live in just two villages in Thailand.

The Mpi language is dying, and many of their young people do not speak it; they have at best a passive understanding of it. Of the 1500, perhaps only 900 still use the language. Mpi people dress and act just like the northern Thai people they live among. When a language survey was completed in 2003, it concluded that there was no need for a translation of scripture to the Mpi language due to a language shift to Thai.

Pray that other northern Thai peoples who have been evangelized will go to their “Samaria” and share Christ with the Mpi in these two villages. Pray for gospel recordings to come to the Mpi people in a language that they can understand from the heart.-JS